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Looking for records of a foreign country

This is a brief guide to researching records of foreign countries. Our records cover many different aspects of British government relations with foreign countries, from correspondence between diplomats to protocols of treaties. This guide will help you to identify some key sources of information which will help you with your research.

It is worth noting that from 1577 to 1906 the State Paper and Foreign Office records are arranged by country, e.g. SP 71 for Barbary States and SP 91 for Russia; FO 1 for Abyssinia and FO 22 for Denmark.

Foreign Office correspondence (1906-1966)

Search our catalogue for records of the Foreign Office's Political Departments in FO 371. Many records are only catalogued by country.

For a more detailed subject index to Foreign Office correspondence 1906-1919, consult the card index in the reading rooms.

What records can I find in other archives and organisations?

International archives

Visit the websites of archives in the country of interest to find records of their government's relations with Britain. Contact details for some national archives are available via Find an archive.

What other resources will help me find information?

Websites

Consult Documents on British Policy Overseas (institutional subscription required) for key documents from the 20th century. The collections have also been published and should be available in many universities and a few public libraries.

Related guides

Did you know?

The National Archives holds records of England, Wales and the United Kingdom's overseas relations dating back to the late 12th century.

The Foreign Office was formed in 1782 and merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1968.

Records of the Foreign Office's Political Departments (FO 371) contain over 190,000 volumes which consist of over 16.5 million pages. They contain references to many well known figures from Laurence of Arabia to King Zog of Albania.

Most Foreign Office records fall into seven major categories

General Correspondence

Registers and Indexes

Embassy and Consular Archives

Confidential Print

Treaties

Private and Private Office Papers

Archives of Commissions and Conferences

Letters were sometimes printed for circulation to government officials. This is called Confidential Print (but is no longer confidential). It can provide a valuable short-cut to finding the main correspondence on an issue.

Maps and plans acquired by the Foreign Office often accompanied reports and dispatches. Many others were acquired from map sellers in order to assist comprehension of diplomatic and territorial relations abroad.